Endless carrier and elevator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. W. ROSS.

- ENDLESS CARRIER AND ELEVATOR.

HW l

INI/'EMME 5, WFM

Patented May 22,1888.

MII WITJVESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMOREV. ROSS, OF FULTON, NEW YORK.

ENDLESS CARRIER AND ELEVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,049, dated lVIay 22, 1883.

Application filed March 1, 1883. (No model.)

act description, reference being had to the ac@ companying drawings, making part of this specication.

My invention relates to that class of endless carriers or elevators employed for conveying straw, cut hay, feed, and other materials to the desired point or place of deposit, Whether for feeding to or removing from machines for operatingupon such materials, or for other pur poses; and will be understood from the following description and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l represents my improved carrier and elevator in side elevation connected with and actuated from the main or cutter shaft of a straw-cutter. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the carrier and its actuating mechanism. Fig. 3 represents a section through one of the boxbearings of the elevator-shaft and through one of the hinges connecting the frame of the elevator with said bearing. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one ofthe elevator-frame hinges detached. Fig. 5 is a perspective view, showing the means for taking up the slack or adjusting the tension ofthe endless carrier; and Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 show certain parts hereinafter described in detail.

` My improved carrier isdesigncd mainly for use in connection with a machine for cutting hay, straw, stalks, &c., and for conveying the material to be operated upon to or away from said machine, and I have therefore shown it applied to such a machine for the purpose of conveying away the cut material to any desired point or place of deposit; but itwill be apparentf'that it may be used for other purposes.

In the drawings, A represents the frame of the strawlcutter, made in any usual or preferred form, and provided on itsupper longitudinal timbers, A A', with bearings for the `main band-wheel and cuttershaft B, and on its lower longitudinal, timbers, A2 A2, with bearin g for a shaft, C, arranged below and parallel with the shaft B. The shalt D is provided with a sprocket-wheel, B','and serves, through an endless chain, B2, to communicate `motion to a sprocket-wheel, C', fast on the shaft C, and the latter has also keyed to it a bevel-pinion or mitcr-whcel, O2, from which motion is imparted toa corresponding wheel, D', fast on the driving-shaft D of the endless carrier. By this arrangement the shaft D is brought into a position at right angles to the shafts' B and C, andthe endless carrier E, actuated from said shaft D, is thus made to move in a path at right angles to the path of movement, through the cutting-machine, of the material operated upon, and is brought into the desired relation for receiving and acting upon said material by a very simple, compact, and economical arrangement of gearing connecting it with the main driving-shaftl of said cutting-machine. As shown in Fig. l, facing the delivery end of the cutting-machine, the carrier is shown adapted to carry the material received by it to the right; but by facing the hevel-wheel O on the shaft O in the reverse direction it would operate the carrier arranged to `carry the. material t-o the left-hand side, and `by making the shaft D of the endless carrier removable from its bearings, and adapting it` to be turned end for end, and providing it at each end with a bevel-wheel, the carrier E may be readily changed from one side of the machine to the other, as required.`

The carrier-frame is composed of longitudiy nal side boards, F and F', set on edge and connected at suitable distances by transverse bars F2, upon which is secured a flooring, F3, which serves to uphold the upper carrying portion of the endless carrier and its load and to prevent sagging. Where the carrier is made of canvas. or other close material the oorin g may be omitted.

To the lower ends of the side boards, F and F', are secured angular brackets G, one to each board, said brackets terminating at theirouter ends in short transverse sleeves g, which surround the projecting tubular ends It of the boxes H and H', in which the shaft D has its `hearin gs, and also the adjacent sleeves or hubs of the sprocket-wheelsI and I", the ends h forming pivotal bearin gs for the carrienframe roo concentric with the shaft D, actuating the carrier and adapting said carrier-frame to be adjusted around said shaft as a center for varying its angle of relation to the ground, butfremoved from` frictional contact with said shaft.

Y By projecting the hubs of the sprocket-wheels I and l' within the sleeves g as explained and shown displacement of the shafts D by the tension of the endless carrier is prevented when said shaft is removed from its bearings for transportation or for changing` it from one side ofthe machine to the other. The brackets .G (see Fig. 4) are provided at their lower edges each with a flange or lip, g', upon which the ends of the side boards of the lcarrierframe rest, relieving' the bolts or screws securing said brackets to said side boards of the weight which would otherwise have to be sustained by them. The boxes H, in the sleeve portions of which the shaft D has its bearings, are provided each with a pendentlip or liange, on which is formed a rib,]L' (see Fig. 6,) curved in the arc ot' a circle concentric with said shaft, and in which the outer face of'the sleeve g rests, relieving the boxes in part of the weight of the carrier, and the ends t' of the hubs of the sprocket-wheel, projecting within said sleeves g, are slightly less in external di- Y ameter than the internal diameter of said sleeves, so as to be removed from frictional contact therewith when in operation. The sprocket-Wheels I and l' are secured to and revolve with the shaft D, serving to actuate the endless chains E' and E2 of the carrier E, which chains are connected by transverse slats or buckets of any suitable form adapting them boards of the carrier-frame, and which serve to stiffen and strengthen the attachment of the plates K and K', and prevent the weight of the carrier from splitting the side boards, F and F', andv tearing the plates K and K' loose therefrom, the strain falling on said plates and not on the side boards. The plates K and K' are provided with pendent perforated ears 7a2, forming bearings for a transverse shaft, M,

having spur-pinions m and m' on its ends, for

a purpose which will presently be explained, and the outer ends of vsaid plates K and K', projecting beyond the side boards of the carrier-frame, are provided with slots K2, in which the sliding and adjustable boxes N of the outer shaft, P, of the endless carrier are secured. One of these boxes is shown detached in Fig. 8, and consists of a short boxor sleeve forming the bearing for the shaft P, and provided' on its inner end with a flange or collar, a, which overhangs the Awalls of the slot K2, on

theinner side of plate K or K', for preventing the escape outward through the slot of said box,'and on its outer endwith an arm or rackbar, N2, which rests outside of the plate and parallel therewith in a guiding loop or hook, 7c3, and has a toothed rack on its lower edge Y at oz', with which the pinion m or m' engages for effecting the adjustment of the boxes N and N'. The shaft M has its ends squared or otherwise adapted to receive a crank, M', for operating it for adjusting the racks N2 N2, and the latter have ratchet-teethv formed on their upper edges at u2, pawls q, pivoted to the plates K and K' directly above said rack-bars or arms, engaging with said ratchet-teeth and holding the arms N2 and the boxes and shaft l?, connected therewith, at any desired adjustment. By rotating the shaft M, with its pinions m and m', both ends of the shaft P will be simultaneously adjusted, whether for taking up slack in the endless carrier or for increasing or diminishing the .tension on its end` less chains.

Where the endless carrier is actuated from sprocket-wheels at its inner end, as explained, I prefer to make the wheels or rollers over which the carrier-chains pass at the outerend in the form of flanged pulleys R, as shownthat is to say,with flanges on theirouter sidewhich serve to hold the carrier in proper working relation to the rollers. Where the shaft at the outer end is made the driving-shaftas under some circumstances is necessary, the relation of the sprocket-wheels and langed pulleys will be reversed, it being4 essential that the sprocket-wheels should be on the shaft actuating the carrier.

The carrier has been described as arranged to carry the material to one side of the cutter or other machine with which it is connected; but it will be apparent that it may be applied as a straight-away77 carrier, or one carrying the material to or from the machine with which it is connected on a line or plane parallel with that on which it passes through said machine, or at any desired angle thereto.

Having described m y invention ,whatI claim as new isl. The combination, with the endless carrier and its supporting-frame, ofthe hin ge-brackets G, provided with the sleeves g, and driving sprocket-wheels having their hubsjournaled in said sleeves, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in an endless carrier, of the hin gin g-sleeves g, the sprocket-wheels journaled in said sleeves, the shaft actuating said sprocket-wheels, and the boxes in which said shaftisjournaled, provided with sleeves h, forming pivots for the sleeves g, substantially as described.

3. The combination,with the endless carrier, of the sleeve-brackets G, the sprocket-wheels having their hubs journaled in said brackets and fast on their actuating-shaft, and the bevelwheels for actuating said shaft from either side of the machine to which the carrier may be applied, all substantially as described.

lOO

IIO

eremo 1 3 4. The combination of the endless earrierand its driving sprocket-Wheel shaft with the boxes H, provided with the pivotal sleeve projections h and the segmental anges h', substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination, with the frame of the endless carrier, of the hin ging-brackets G, provided with the sleeves g and the iianges g', substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination, with the carrier-frame, of the slotted and adjustable plates K and K', the adjustable boxes N and N', provided with the racks N2, the shaft M,witl1 its pinions, and the retaining-pawl q, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combinatiomwith the sides of the carrier-frame, of the slotted and adjustable outer plates, K and K', the inner clamping-plates, L, and the through-bolts uuitin g said plates, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. The combination, with the carrier-frame, ofthe platesKaud K', provided with the iian ge k, slots k' and K2, and bearing-lugs k2, substan- `tially as described. 

